I decided to start posting some short stories on Fridays. Hope you guys enjoy! Let me know what you think in the comments.
Carissa could barely catch her breath by the time she made it to the door and despite her best efforts, she didn’t make it in time. The neon “closed” sign flickered in the window and no sign of life moved around inside. She threw her head back and as she turned around, she collided with destiny.
His brown eyes leveled with hers and casted a babbling spell over her. She mumbled an apology and couldn’t bring herself to come up with a response when he asked if she was okay. Carissa shrugged and smiled and slid past him.
“There’s a shop nearby. Great gelato,” he called after her, stopping her in her tracks.
Carissa turned around and looked at him, wondering how he knew why she was there and that the only reason she had left her house that night was to get her favorite treat then curl up with her cat and watch “Love Jones” while consuming unhealthy amounts of gelato and wine.
Since the moment she agreed to go with him, Gabriel, it had been a whirlwind. The movie type stuff. Except she could eat and she packed on the pounds to prove it. “Happy weight” is how she defended it in her mind as she grabbed her love handles.
They started off spending every waking moment together. She at his place, he at hers. Dinner at new restaurants and Carissa teaching him how to make a simple red sauce. Kitchen lessons always led to them making love on the floor. Really any food left them naked and intertwined. Their aphrodisiac.
Walks in the park. Heated debates about the best rapper alive. He met her friends and took her to lunch. Gabriel hugged her a little too long and kissed her four more times after they stopped. Rituals.
But it turned out to be in vain. Just as quick as he came, he left.
Gabriel started changing after a few weeks. He became more distant and busier. She berated herself for becoming lazier with their love making and thought maybe she didn’t season the pasta sauce enough.
One Saturday afternoon, she and her mom shared a pitcher of sangria as they waited for their food. Carissa told her mom of her romance and budding love who had yet to respond to her message.
“You can’t keep no man that don’t wanna be kept,” her mama told her over eggs benedict to which Carissa rolled her eyes. Gabriel wanted to be kept but maybe she needed to do a better job of keeping him. She flagged the waiter for another pitcher.
He texted her the next evening to tell her he would be there shortly. She put the finishing touches on dinner and dimmed the lights for the candles that lit the apartment. Her bestie told her to turn on Wynton Marsalis or the Dream to set the mood. She opted for the latter.
Carissa put her heels on when she heard him knock but before she could greet him, he let himself in, looking around the apartment.
“I can’t do this anymore.” Gabriel dropped a bag on the floor and walked out.
Carissa wanted to go after him. She had questions, thoughts running through her mind. She had food on the stove and cupcakes in the oven. Rose petals on the bed and two bottles of wine chilling.
But she couldn’t move. Her feet wouldn’t go. At least not after him. He didn’t want to be kept and if he did, it wasn’t by her.
So, she ate dinner. Cleaned her kitchen. Drank some wine. Slow wined to the Dream and went down the street to get some gelato.
